Santa Womble Returns! Short Treats - Anthologies and Collections

Ho Ho Ho!

For today’s bag of treats lets look at anthologies and short story collections. Something you can dive into for a few minutes; meet new authors and also play with the concept of a linked theme

Alias Space and Other Stories by Kelly Robson - I started the year in style with this supremely varied and rather brilliant collection of Robson’s tales and it is well worth tracking down!

Mestiza Blood by V Castro - a very impressive collection by a writer who focus on chicana characters and culture. Castro is a name to watch and this collection further underlines it.

lost objects by Marian Womack - Delighted to read this by an author I highly recommend tales of nature, the future and climate change all abound and Womack is a very skilled writer indeed!

The Book of Queer Saints edited by Mae Murray - a fantastic collection of horror tales with a focused on LGBT+ authors and characters being front and centre. of the plots for a change A fine collection is well worth your time!

Bridging Worlds edited by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki - A fine collection of african SF&F writers exploring their own reaction to living the pandemic. Its well worth your time to explore the variety of experiences and also the connections between us all. PS free too!

Giving The Devil His Due edited by Rebecca Brewer - AS well as a great set of tales about resilience this anthology also uses the Pixel Project in their campaign to stop violence against women.

Under the Moon by E M Faulds - A brilliant debut collection of stories that range from Cleopatra to the far future and crosses genres easily. An author to watch out for!

Whirlwind Romance by Sam Thompson - any book by Unsung Stories press is well worth your attention and I was not disappointed by the quality of the tales in this anthology. Strange eerie and often very much about being human. A writer I will be looking out for again

Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance edited by Jonathan Strahan — Runalong The Shelves - Time travel and romance are the two themes of this inventive anthology with a very interesting mix of tales from great authors to enjoy,

Night, Rain and Neon edited by Michael Cobley - this SF collection proves that cyberpunk is neither dead or asleep and a high quality of tales by new SF authors makes this worthy of attention.

Queer Weird West Tales edited by Julie Bozza - a very pleasing selection of weird western tales but with a queer dimension made this a welcome reading experience

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca - The first tale is one of the darkest and most effective piece of horror writing I’ve read in a while. the other tale also are worth a read too.

Great British Horror 7 - Major Arcana edited by Steve J Shaw — Runalong The Shelves - Another great entry into this series this time using cards of the tarot of inspiration. A very fine selection awaits you of great wriitng.

Isolation edited by Dan Coxon - a very fine horror collection that uses a theme we all have recent experience of - being on our own. Very good and perfect for some quiet horror from some of the best writers in the field

Listen: The Sound of Fear edited by Elizabetta McKay - A very good set of short fiction tales exploring how sound can cause horror. Also notably the first collection by trans and non-binary horror audiences I am aware of.

The Crow Witch and Other Conjurings by Catherine Cavendish - Horror fans should enjoy a set of tales that reminds a witch can always make a great villain. Cavendish really enjoys playing with types of witch tales and it is deliciously dark.

Breakable Things by Cassandra Khaw - This is a brilliant collection and with a focus more on horror and dark fantasy the use of writing Khaw deploys is something readers should savour.

https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2022/11/12/into-the-forest-tales-of-the-baba-yaga-edited-by-lindy-ryan - a really interesting set of tales playing with the myth of Baba Yaga

From The Wasteland edited by Clare Rhoden - A really interesting set of horror, SF and fantasy tales all based on reading The Waste Land by T S Eliot. Very unusual and surprising. Lots of new to me authors to enjoy

The Stairs Are A Snowcapped Mountain by Judy Darley - If you enjoy very short flash fiction I recommend this very varied tales all linked to a wider theme of nature.

Geometries of Belonging by RB Lemberg - I’ve really enjoyed exploring RB Lemberg’s Birdverse a fascinating idea of tales in a vast magical world but more thematically linked. In this very varied and beautifully written set of tales we get letters, academics, found families and artists all crossing pasts. An author you should be reading.

Join Santa next time for Horror!